Massive public opposition to proposed abortion TV adverts

9 September 2009

A consultation on proposals to allow abortion agencies to advertise on TV has drawn massive public opposition to the proposals. The Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) will not be able to complete the consultation process until the first quarter of next year due to the unprecedented number of submissions, numbering 4,000, many of which expressed opposition to abortion. [Guardian, 8 September] http://is.gd/31I6m Paul Tully, SPUC general secretary, commented: "We are pleased to note that the BCAP is carefully scrutinising the submissions. We hope that this huge expression of public concern will make the BCAP realise the depth of public feeling on the issue. We are very, very grateful to all those who have expressed reservations about the proposals. We must ensure that the government too notes the depth of public concern on this matter, and SPUC groups around the country are currently promoting a national petition directed to the prime minister to ensure that our concerns are heard by politicians too."

A mother whose prematurely-born boy died after being denied treatment has condemned guidelines given to doctors. Jayden, the son of Sarah Capewell of Great Yarmouth, England, was denied treatment because he was born earlier than 22 weeks, the cut-off point for treatment under the guidelines. Miss Capewell claimed that doctors told her that Jayden "hasn't got a human right, he is a foetus". [Telegraph, 5 September] http://is.gd/2ZdID

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has called for US$23 billion in contributions, claiming that women are dying because of a lack of funding for so-called sexual and reproductive health, a euphemism for abortion. The agency, which promotes abortion, contraception and sterilisation, made the call at a meeting of anti-life organisations in Berlin, Germany. [AFP via Google, 2 September] http://is.gd/2ZhWv John Smeaton, SPUC director, commented: "If UNFPA was truly interested in saving women's lives, it would campaign against abortion. It is no coincidence that Ireland, the country which has the world's best maternal mortality rate, also forbids abortion."

Other stories:

"Several hundred pro-life demonstrators in Vienna protested the decision of the city's mayor to host a party celebrating the anniversary of a notorious abortion facility" [LifeSiteNews.com, 8 September] http://is.gd/34bs2

"First US Bishop to decry the 'scandal' of the Kennedy funeral" [LifeSiteNews.com, 8 September] http://is.gd/34e0Z

"A hospital promotion in the western city of Chongqing offering a 50 per cent discount off the cost of abortions to teenagers who show student ID, has sparked a debate about whether Chinese attitudes to abortion are too casual." [Irish Times, 4 September] http://is.gd/2ZiO5

The parliament in Queensland, Australia has approved an amendment to its criminal code saying the dangerous abortion drug RU486 is legal [LifeNews.com, 3 September] http://is.gd/31Qu0

"Globs of human fat removed during liposuction conceal versatile cells that are more quickly and easily coaxed to become induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, than are the skin cells most often used by researchers, according to a new study from Stanford's School of Medicine." [Bionity, 9 September] http://is.gd/34c30

"Hundreds of desperate British patients have spent up to £30,000 on unproven stem cell treatments in China and elsewhere, an investigation has found." [Sunday Times, 6 September] http://is.gd/2Zgng

"A couple from Gloucester have delivered a petition to Downing Street urging the relaxation of a law which means the destruction of their frozen embryos." [BBC, 8 September] http://is.gd/34dth

"Doctors from Manchester are to become the first to trial a new technique for screening embryos in a bid to make IVF more successful. The fertility experts are to send cells from embryos to the United States for testing so they can implant those which give the best hope of pregnancy." [Manchester Evening News, 7 September] http://is.gd/2Zc11

"New IVF techniques are being used in a Sheffield fertility clinic to boost to patients' chances of a successful pregnancy by 10 per cent. Experts at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals' Assisted Conception Unit can now implant embryos in the womb at five days old instead of three" [Star, 7 September] http://is.gd/2Zb7s

"A global fertility treatment boom will trigger a huge rise in the number of older mothers to at least 2,000 over the next five years, one of the UK's leading fertility experts predicts" [Independent, 6 September] http://is.gd/2ZeTz

"A hospital which plans to be the largest IVF centre in Europe is to electronically tag embryos to reduce the chance of mix-ups." [BBC, 1 September] http://is.gd/2ZnaX

"EFRAT, an Israeli pro-life organization that works with women contemplating abortion by providing emotional and material support, is warning that the demographic implications of abortion in the nation are the greatest danger to Israel today." [LifeSiteNews.com, 8 September] http://is.gd/34dPc

"A mother, who could be in need of urgent medical help, is being sought after a newborn baby girl was found abandoned in Buckinghamshire." [BBC, 9 September] http://is.gd/34bPH

The head of Barnardo's, the children's charity, has called for more babies to be taken away at birth from parents who have "failed" with their previous children [Telegraph, 7 September] http://is.gd/2Zj00

Baroness Nicky Chapman, the first person with a congenital disability to be appointed to the House of Lords, has died aged 48 [BBC, 4 September] http://is.gd/2Zpwe

The Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now renamed falsely "Dignity in Dying") has called for the government to investigate the Liverpool Care Pathway [Telegraph, 4 September] http://is.gd/2Znvl

"The son of a terminally ill patient who shot himself dead on a busy ward was jailed yesterday for three years after admitting smuggling the weapon into hospital ... Judge Wide also queried a Crown Prosecution Service decision that there was ' insufficient evidence' to secure a conviction for assisting a suicide. That offence carries a maximum 14-year sentence." [Daily Mail, 5 September] http://is.gd/2Zp5J

"Euthanasia is being practiced in the Czech Republic, even though it is against the law, some doctors have acknowledged." [Baptist Press, 4 September] http://is.gd/2Zq1t